Hello all,
Spring beckoning and searching for plants for my new border. I have a lot of Ruby Penstemons which I shall split and transfer to the new border, but I want a different colour. I had a bad experience with PlugPlants recently so am a bit dubious, but this does still seem to the most economical way to purchase. I wonder whether anyone has any recommendations.

Answers

if you are after a few of the same colour then I'd buy a good plant and take cuttings , cuttings probably wont flower this year but they may do.

Some garden centres sell smaller plants £2-3.

Keep an eye out for plant stalls at church/charity sales as you often get soe good bargains that way.

I have found Van Mewuen to be good in the past but this spring they have been rather disappointing . I rang and mentioned this and the lad on the other end said they had had a few similar complaints. but they have sent replacements where possible and refunds too.

I have used Parkers too Seaburn, not always successfully and not with Plugs.

My new large border is in full sun for most of the day and at the moment I plan to have Cosmos, Phlox Paniculata, Penstemons and Dahlias. I have a few shrubs in the back against the fence and in front of them, at the moment, two bush roses, together with two Lavender bushes I have just transplanted. This is what I will build my groups of perennials around. At the moment there are a lot of spring bulbs so I have to look at the border without them and work around them too.

The plugs I purchashed at the back end of last year were Penstemons, but I made the mistake after potting them up of bringing them indoors. Of course, they shot away, got very leggy and although I moved them into a cooler spot eventually they died. That was probably my fault but it has made me a little wary.

I find I have the greatest success with seeds but Penstemons are difficult things to get started so for the
Parniculata and Penstemons my thoughts have turned to plugs.

Most garden centres currently have small pots of perennials, around £1.99 each, often with a deal 10 for the price of 8 or similar. This is a very cheap way to buy them, but they'll only be there for another week or so before they get potted up and become more expensive. Plants to consider (and which I've seen in small pots 2 days ago) Geums, Helianthemum, Echinacea, Bergamot, Campanula persicifolia, Iberis, Coreopsis, Centaurea, Arabis, Aubretia, Aquilegia, Tradescantia, Polemonium, Physostegia, Malva moschata, Papaver, Lychnis viscaria. Note that Polemonium prefer a little shade though. I can't remember the rest... just remembered two more, Echinops ritro and Eryngium.
And don't forget the herb section either - Oreganum aureum makes a great yellow patch in the border for ground cover, and the flowers are loved by bees. Also purple sage makes a good front of the border shrub. Both these were available in small pots, think they were 1.89 or smething.